Balikbayan: From Victims To Survivors is the story of Filipino-Canadian Jon Jon Rivero's journey of returning year after year since 2007 to the Philippines, as a promise made to his late father, by leading a group of Canadians determined to empower street children in the wake of the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda. The team uses trauma-informed care through hip hop, martial arts, Filipino folk dance, and street culture to help them heal from the trauma of surviving the typhoon but also help them discover their strength and inner resilience that they had all along. Music is used as a healing art. This is a journey that shows that regardless of background, we are all the same: from the streets, to the basketball courts, from public begging, to public performance, and from being insignificant, to being part of a loving, surrogate, family.

Originally released by Hiltz Squared Media Group, 2020. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on July 17, 2023.